chasm
by electrikitty
Summary: you can be friends, brothers… yet fall out so badly. yet… you still have those ties, no matter what you do. / the royal tutor / one-shot / originally from 'royal tutor collection'


**Chasm**

_A story based on Volume 9._

It was too late and the night was too long. Bruno took his glasses off for a moment and slid them into his tangled hair, letting his vision blur and blacken as he closed his eyes.

He enjoyed the work, certainly. But preparations for an entire university symposium—part of which he was expected to oversee—could only be called heavy labour no matter how you looked at it

The tea on his desk had gone cold. He forced himself to drink it anyway. It would keep his eyes open, at least.

He lowered his glasses back over his eyes. The sight of the papers flooding his desk and the floor was… disheartening, to say the least. '…An hour or two more. I think.'

It didn't matter. He'd worked through the night before and he could easily do so again. Easily. Somewhat easily…

The door clicked. It took him a moment to come to his senses, and he turned to see Licht standing in the door.

Licht tried to smile. 'Hi, Brunie.'

And the floor seeped disharmony, spilling from the chasm that had opened between them. One that Bruno wished he wasn't so aware of, for better and for worse. For both his sake, and Licht's.

Bruno nodded, then gripped the back of a chair as a dizzy spell numbed his sense of balance. 'Licht. Did you need something?'

Licht didn't meet Bruno's gaze. He rested a hand on the doorframe and glanced at the enamel tray in his other hand. 'I got you a… drink.'

Bruno blinked in surprise. Licht padded over, yet with none of his usual lively bounce. Instead, his jacket was buttoned and his hair fell neatly over one shoulder. He placed the tray on the desk, and looked at the papers spread over the surface. 'I thought you might need it.' Licht sat on the carpet and leaned against the desk. The fireplace painted them both with amber. Licht fingered his cheek, looking out the window. 'You've been working late at night for a while now.'

'…Oh.' Bruno should have been saying thank you, yet Licht had caught him off guard… and he didn't know what to say.

Bruno hesitated. Then took the coffee cup and took a cautious sip.

It was hot, just cool enough to drink, and it dripped down his spine like a warm, sweet electric shock, enough to warm him and wake him up again. 'Is this… caramel?'

Licht lowered his eyes. 'Well. It's your favourite, isn't it?'

Bruno took another sip. It was sugary as well, and it tasted like two sugars. 'And… two sugars?'

'I try.' Licht cracked a faint smile, yet it didn't last long, fading away like the steam that wreathed from the coffee.

And despite Bruno telling himself not to, he felt regret. Regret that they'd fallen out so badly. Regret that they seemed to be splintering everything they touched whenever they tried to talk.

It wasn't Bruno's fault. It wasn't. It was Licht's, of course—from the careless way he used his station as a prince to the way he abandoned it at moment's notice to work at a café. Licht had even brought him a d_ coffee as an apology for abandoning his role as prince to go and become a waiter. It was pathetic.

This was entirely his brother's fault, and he should be glad that Licht was miserable. Maybe it would bring him to his senses.

Yet Bruno couldn't shut up that voice in his head. The voice that pointed out Licht's talent for his work. His wholeheartedness in pursuing what he thought to be his… calling? His passion? _Absurd_, Bruno told himself. _You can't be emphasising with him. Stop it. _

Yet he could neither ignore nor argue away the trembling of Licht's lips even while his brother refused to give in, from the set of his spine to the way he stared at the carpet with flickers of flame in his eyes.

And Bruno rested a hand on Licht's head.

A touch of a gloved hand, tousling his brother's blond hair.

Bruno couldn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what to think, and he didn't know if things were ever going to get better between them. He didn't know if they'd even be able to look at each other or be able to breathe without feeling like their chests were full of crushed glass.

But they were still brothers. Even when they fought, fell out, or broke down. And Bruno couldn't deny it.

Even if he wanted to.

The coffee tasted strangely bittersweet.

Licht bit his lip, fiddling with his gloves. Then as Bruno lowered his hand, he reached back, slowly, hesitatingly…

And Bruno took it. Would always take it.

Even when things got bad.

Because they were brothers, after all.

'Thank you.'

And their words mingled in the firelight.

_The End_

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**A/N:** Reviews welcome, and thanks for reading!


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